PAWS Atlanta, Inc.: COVID-19 Operation Grant Report
How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?
PAWS Atlanta received a $1,000 COVID Operations Grant from the Petfinder Foundation. We are incredibly grateful! We used our grant for two purposes. First, we spent $250 on additional cleaning supplies that helped us get through our ramped-up period where we were taking extra precautions and updating our safety protocols at the shelter due to COVID-19. This included items like paper towels, hand sanitizer, disinfectant, etc.
Second, we spent $750 to purchase medications for our pets in foster care during the shutdown. We placed an additional 36 cats and 74 dogs into foster care during the month of March and that meant many dogs and cats needed our assistance in their new foster homes. Even with the financial burdens we faced, it was imperative to make sure those pets in foster care were receiving the best medical care.
The $750 ($753.06 total below) was used for medicine for the following pets:
-Booger Bear (canine): three rounds of Diroban/melarsomine injections to treat heartworm disease and 28 days’ worth of Doxycycline at $219.81
-Penny (canine): Amantadine HCI capsule 100 at $92.88
-Coby (canine): Theophylline SR capsule 60 capsules at $58.32 and Gabapentin minitab 100 tablets at $66.96
-Tinsel (feline): Prednisolone ClickDose Transdermal 60 clicks at $51.79
-Spirit (canine): Gabapentin 60 capsules at $53.78 and Ursodial at $91.68
-Fireman Aaron (canine): Flurbiprofen 5 bottles x 22.08 at $110.40
-Elecktra (canine): Fluoxetine 20 mg 100 tablets at $7.44
As of June 15, 2020, we had 55 dogs and 27 cats we were caring for at our shelter, along with 36 dogs and 61 cats being cared for by our foster families. Our top priorities continue to be to care for the animals who are at our shelter and to ensure that our animals in foster homes are also being cared for and loved during this time.
We are putting a heavy focus on converting new foster placements into forever adoptions and believe this is critical in making a substantial impact on our shelter numbers (with a potential spike anticipated after things begin to normalize). This grant was a wonderful gift to our organization and so very much appreciated. During the shutdown, and as we slowly resume and rebuild our efforts, being able to purchase additional cleaning supplies has been particularly helpful to protect the safety of our staff, as well as members of our community and our animals.
Grant funding to allocate to medicine for our pets in foster care came at a critical time for our organization as we, like other shelters around the country, have faced financial difficulties with the loss of so many predictable revenue streams during the shutdown. And, of course, grant funding to purchase medicine for our pets in foster care made a direct impact on their lives. It is important to have our pets healthy, happy, and ready to be adopted into their forever homes. It also means it serves other animals because as space opens, more at-risk dogs and cats can be helped. The Petfinder Foundation made this possible.
How many pets did this grant help?
89
Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.
Funding from the Petfinder Foundation made a big difference in the life of Booger Bear (a.k.a. Boo Bear), who was treated for heartworm disease. Booger Bear was a scared dog who was abandoned near PAWS Atlanta and had to be trapped. Well, she is scared no more and this gal is personality plus! Her foster family took her and their dog Moomoo on “field trips” so their worlds did not get too small during the quarantine. Their favorite spot: the Decatur Cemetery, which you would have thought was Disney World in Booger Bear’s mind. She also loves to gather up all her toys and bring them into bed with her for a nap. She especially adores her squeaky toys.
Booger Bear was adopted by her foster family’s dog walker on June 1. They had met her before she was adoptable and fell in love. She has a doggie sister and is settling in well and she and her doggie sister are doing great together. She is also doing fantastic with her heartworm treatments and we will finish up treatment with the adopter (at our expense). Soon, she will be feeling better than she has in a long time thanks to the Petfinder Foundation!
